If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

OK, thanks... I don't know that I even get those, so not much to be addicted to there.

Metta,Retro.

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

Maybe what tilt said, but probably more than that (general metabolism change?). I had to stop due to knee issues and it caused me kind of a "cold turkey" ... terrible. Of course individual inclinations may have impact. Don't know.

also I experienced a tendency that jogging and its effects actually undermined meditative practices. Possibly due to the bodily effects on mental processes. Mental meditative capacity tended to decrease with increasing jogging activity. So one may have to find one's middle way in this area too, the welcomed psycho-physiological effects however may counter this midddle way which may be interpreted as "addiction".

tiltbillings wrote:Do you get a bit of a buzz or blissed-out feeling after a good run?

Not really... but here's what I do like about it...

I enjoy getting out there in the open weather, and I enjoy the loka of it... much like how you might enjoy a vacation because it's a break from the routine of daily tasks and activities that you habitually engage with when you're at home or at work. The 'triggers' for those tasks are removed when I'm not physically there. It's a different experience. It serves as bookends to segment daily experience.

It's taking the mind into a place where it can relax, where it's permitted to be disconnected from any engagement with society, and where its goals can be freeform and unrestrained, where the mind's work is on monitoring biomechanical matters, rather than analytical or social matters. I come back feeling I've actually done something worthwhile. Unlike ground, I actually find the act of jogging a form of meditation in itself, moreso than something that interferes with it.

There's a sense of freedom that I can go where I like, and I'm not dependent on anyone else, nor do I have any obligations to anyone else. I enjoy getting in the rhythm and the constancy of it and that I when I find the rhythm, I don't really seem to get weary for at least the first 10km. It's the sense that I can actually go somewhere, just me and myself, without reliance on motors, petrol, trains or buses. It's a physical manifestation of the potential simplicity of life. It's harmless. It breaks down perceptions of what is close, and what is far - what is possible, and what is not possible. Just the fact that I'm physically moving offsets the habitual tendency towards inertia and inaction - it's a "why not?" rather than a "why?".

I enjoy the speed, in that it's slow enough to see what's going on, but also fast enough that the scenery moves progressively along. I like that depending on which way I go I can see anything from rural farm scenes, to suburbia, to rivers, to coastlines, and different unexpected encounters with flora and fauna. I like that it feels 'real' (as opposed to looking through the windows of a car), organic, I've got the air in my face, and that if I start at home, explore, and then come back home, there's almost a certain primitive 'tribal' satisfaction with that journey. I can get answers to essentially pointless questions, like "what's over that hill?", "what's around that corner?". I can go somewhere for no reason other than simply to go there.

If I'm wearing my MP3 player, I also enjoy listening to tunes in combination with the above factors.

I enjoy the sense of comeraderie with other people out doing physical exercise, approaching from the opposite direction - walking, jogging, cycling or whatever - there's a quick nod, or a hi - but no subsequent obligation to engage in conversation because they've already come and gone.

If that constitutes endorphins, anandamides or metabolic change, then maybe it is... I don't know... but it doesn't feel like a "buzz" per se ~ it feels to me more like freedom, challenge and achievement. It certainly doesn't feel like anything I should be afraid of being addicted to. It feels liberating. Actually, it's probably why Forrest Gump ran across America.

I don't run if I have any joint soreness, at which point I would ride instead, where many of the same factors I noted above would still apply.

Metta,Retro.

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

Mal wrote:Does the Buddha recommend jogging? Why not walk? I jogged/ran for twenty years and stopped when my knees became quite painful most days. One colleague who didn't stop had a knee replacement, another a hip replacement. So I have great doubts about it being a wonderful exercise! These days my exercise is walking to the shops and back, which (just) gives me the minimum needed to keep fit, according to UK NHS guidelines. If you *must* jog, I'd start very slowly, barely above walking pace for 10 minutes three times a week, and build up to Santa's minimum - 30min three times a week, over three months. If knees or hips hurt, don't run through it: as an alternative walk, or if even that hurts cycle or swim. In meditation novices are often told to ignore pain from adopting the half lotus, DO NOT APPLY THAT ADVICE TO JOGGING. The pain from stretching in the half lotus is not the same as the impact pain from jogging, where you are actually wearing down the joint.

Here here

Running on roads gives repetitious impacts to knees, ankles hips etc, personally having suffered damage at 51 I would not recommend it.

The correct and least impactful way to run is by striking the ground with the ball of the foot, rather than the heel. This minimizes impact on the knee, and instead transfers that force to the calf muscle, which acts much like a spring.

However, it takes a while to switch over to this style of running. Barefoot or lightly shod and no more than 5 minutes a session in the beginning, and gradually increase the time. Your calves and other stabilizer muscles need time to recover from years of atrophy.

I think I did it in just under an hour, although I haven't seen the times yet.

Metta,Retro.

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7